Dr KARL SHUKER

Zoologist, media consultant, and science writer, Dr Karl Shuker is also one of the best known cryptozoologists in the world. Author of such seminal works as Mystery Cats of the World (1989), The Lost Ark: New and Rediscovered Animals of the 20th Century (1993; greatly expanded in 2012 as The Encyclopaedia of New and Rediscovered Animals), In Search of Prehistoric Survivors (1995), The Unexplained (1996), Mysteries of Planet Earth (1999), The Beasts That Hide From Man (2003), and more recently Extraordinary Animals Revisited (2007), Dr Shuker's Casebook (2008), Karl Shuker's Alien Zoo: From the Pages of Fortean Times (2010), Cats of Magic, Mythology, and Mystery (2012), Mirabilis: A Carnival of Cryptozoology and Unnatural History (2013), Dragons in Zoology, Cryptozoology, and Culture (2013), A Manifestation of Monsters (2015), Here's Nessie! (2016), and what is already considered to be his magnum opus, Still In Search Of Prehistoric Survivors (2016), his many fans have been badgering him to join the blogosphere for years. The CFZ Blog Network is proud to have finally persuaded him to do so.

Search This Blog

PLEASE COME IN, I'VE BEEN EXPECTING YOU...

Saturday, 12 January 2013

HERE'S HIPPOTURTLEOX - THE HORNED MONSTER OF TIBET'S LAKE DUOBUZHE

Detailed reconstruction of the possible appearance in life of the hippoturtleox (Tim Morris)

Due to the political situation, much of Tibet's terrain and freshwater bodies of water are little-known or entirely off-limits to Westerners. Occasionally, however, a highly intriguing report emerges that suggests there may be some fascinating zoological discoveries waiting to be made here.

One such report briefly hit the headlines worldwide in September 1984, a mere 12 years after the creature itself had been captured. It claimed that back in 1972, a truly bizarre beast had been caught alive in Tibet's Lake Duobuzhe. It was described as having an ox-like body with hippopotamus-like skin, the legs of a turtle and a pair of short curled horns on its head. As a result of its composite morphology, it was duly dubbed a hippoturtleox by American cryptozoologist J. Richard Greenwell when documenting it within the Spring 1986 issue of the International Society of Cryptozoology's newsletter.

Delightful illustration of the hippoturtleox (Thylacine333/deviantart.com)

Tragically, however, following its capture this extraordinary-sounding creature was shot and bayoneted to death by some Chinese soldiers, then dragged to a nearby village, but the subsequent fate of its scientifically-priceless carcase is unknown (though it is quite likely to have been eaten – an ignominious fate shared by several other cryptozoological specimens down through the years). Nothing more has ever been reported about Lake Duobuzhe's hippoturtleox, and nothing like it has ever been reported since. Strangely, I have been unable to locate Lake Duobuzhe online or in any atlas either, although there are literally thousands of lakes occurring on the Tibetan plateau, so this is not necessarily surprising. It is believed that the area used to be under the ocean, which then retreated, explaining the presence of so many lakes in the area today, a number of which are filled with saltwater.

Always assuming that the story was indeed genuine, what could this creature have been? Its body's general shape, the appearance of its skin, and certainly its limbs are all reminiscent of a large freshwater chelonian – but if this is indeed what it was, how can its horns be explained? Could they have been a pair of specialised respiratory snorkels, perhaps? Or might they even have been real horns? After all, a horned chelonian would not be without precedent.

Until as recently as 2000 years ago, the island of New Caledonia, situated to the east of Australia, was still home to an extraordinary cryptodire tortoise called Meiolania mackayi, whose skull bore a cluster of protuberances, including a pair of large, laterally-pointing horns. Much bigger Meiolania species formerly lived in Australia too (M. brevicollis), as well as on Lord Howe Island (M. platyceps), and Vanuatu (M.damelipi), but these all became extinct before their New Caledonian counterpart.

Ninjemys oweni - a small Meiolania-related Pleistocene horned tortoise from Queensland, depicted on an Australian postage stamp issued in 1997

Without a body, preserved tissues, a photograph, or even an eyewitness drawing to examine, Tibet's hippoturtleox seems destined to remain an unclassifiable anomaly within the chronicles of cryptozoology – unless, one day, a second specimen appears. If it does, we can but hope that it will be treated more humanely than its mystifying species' previous representative.

Hi Bos, Thanks for your response. However, the bonnacon is based upon the European bison, as reflected in the latter species' scientific name, which is Bison bonasus. Also, the bonnacon was terrestrial, with normal limbs, whereas the hippoturtleox has flipper-like feet. All the best, Karl

If you want a Tibetanist's idea, it sounds like what Tibetans might call the chulang, or 'water ox,' which corresponds to Chu-glang in Wylie transcription, and ཆུ་གླང་ in Tibetan script. When we approaching the famous Yamdrok lake, I asked the driver if anything lives there. He said the only thing living there was the chulang. Scientifically speaking, I think the only known denizen of this semi-salty lake is a special species of catfish, but who knows? If you're interested, I wrote a little bit about the water ox in an entry for May 18, 2012. Have fun with that.

Karl, I have been looking into and am interested in the reference you have made to the Hippoturtleox, with all due respect to American Cryptozoologist J. Richard Greenwell's research in Tibet's "Lake Duobuzhe". I understand the original ISC is no longer active. Do you have an original document, book, or web reference that I may review, or will the full documentation be in Mirabilis: A Carnival of Cryptozoology and Unnatural History.

The source of my info re the hippoturtleox was a very short news report, just one paragraph long, written by Greenwell and appearing in the ISC Newsletter issue noted by me above. His source was, I believe, an equally brief item from a Chinese newspaper, but I haven't seen this myself.

My most immediate question, based upon your reply is, did Greenwell relate in his paragraph, whether an interpreter, field guide, or the current locals describe the lake in name, and did Greenwell write down what was verbally described to him, possibly writing down what it phonetically sounded like to him, or was it properly written down in the current dialect and native language. I am referring specifically to Lake Duobuzhe. I am currently researching two 'candidate lakes', if, in my theory, Greenwell wrote down phonetically, what lake was described to him.

SHUKERNATURE SURVIVAL

If you'd like to assist me in my ongoing crypto-investigations, even the smallest donation would be immensely appreciated. All donations are non-profit-making, going exclusively towards the updating/maintenance of my crypto-archives' source material and other necessities that enable me to continue researching and blogging my findings right here for you on ShukerNature. Thank you so much for your help! - Karl

ShukerNature Followers

Subscribe To

Contributors

DISCLAIMER

In Accordance with Title 17 USC Section 107, any copyright material on display here is under Fair Use without any claim of ownership or any profit accrued by the display. The Material herein is for non-profit educational or criticism puposes only. Notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 106 and 106a, the fair use of a copyrighted work including reproduction and distribution of said material as specified in that section, for purposes of education, news reporting, commentary or criticism, scholarship or research, to persons who have expressed a prior interest in receiving such material for such purposes, is NOT an infringement. Also: Unless stated otherwise, all illustrations in ShukerNature blog articles that are credited to a named copyright owner plus Wikipedia have been made available by the copyright owner and Wikipedia for third-person use under the conditions of the Creative Commons Licence. Should any copyright holder of any of the illustrations included on ShukerNature not wish those illustrations to be included here, please contact me and I shall of course remove them.

ATTRIBUTION

All original content on this blog is the exclusive copyright of Dr Karl Shuker, with all rights reserved by him, and must NOT be reproduced in any manner without his strict permission in writing.